Ultimate Cookie Monster. Lover of Bacon.

Mind Bullets

Now I know what you’re thinking… Mind bullets what kind of super hero has becoming a biathlete made corrine!?!? Wrong. Unfortunately its not quite as cool as it sounds. …not even a little bit. but its part of my life now. Most biathletes refer to it as “dry-firing” but for my sake I find making it sound as cool as possible helps me get by.

Dry-firing is the act of going through the motions of shooting with out any bullets. It helps work on the procedure of getting the rifle on and off as efficiently and smoothly as possible. This is an area I struggle in, I am slow, I am clumsy, and any coordination I might posses seems to go right out the window as soon as I try to go fast. I throw and drop clips, I can never quite get my sling to hook into my cuff, and on a fairly frequent basis I manage to get tangled in my own harness. So much for looking cool I guess. Dry-firing allows us to work on our bolting, our trigger squeeze, our breathing cadence, but most importantly (especially for me) our ability to hold on the target. What do you mean? Don’t you just point the barrel at the target and BAM? If only it was that simple. The pros make it look easy.

So I practice. I have to practice alot…well atleast I’m suppose to practice alot. I struggle with dry firing. I have to remind myself how important it is before I let myself slack off horribly. Its a daily battle to make sure I “get the job done”. Sometimes I’m given reminders. On the days when I can’t seem to put actual bullets on the target, when no white paddles go up, when I’m pretty sure I must be shooting rabbits instead… On those days I know I must work harder. Try harder. try harder to be more consistent. I know I’m going to have bad days and good days. Days where I feel like I’m on fire…and days when I might as well be shooting into the dirt.

I’ve learned to take a step back. To see how much I’ve improved and take note on what I need to work harder on. And although dry-firing might not be super fun or exciting or on the top of my list of things I like to do in my spare time I remind myself even the pros shoot mind bullets.